Castaic Junction is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located in Los Angeles County, California. It is located at the crossroads of

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

and State Route 126 near the confluence of

Castaic Creek Castaic Creek (Chumash: ''Kaštiq'') is a , accessed March 16, 2011 stream in the Sierra Pelona Mountains, in northeastern Los Angeles County, California. It is a tributary of the Santa Clara River. Castaic Lake Castaic Dam on the creek form ...

and the Santa Clara River. Places in Castaic Junction carry a Valencia zip code (91355), and it is adjacent to the City of Santa Clarita.

Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newh ...

theme park is just south of the junction.

History

Castaic Junction was the official southern end of the

Ridge Route The Ridge Route, officially the Castaic–Tejon Route, was a two-lane highway between Los Angeles County and Kern County, California. Opened in 1915 and paved with concrete between 1917 and 1921, the road was the first paved highway directly ...

. The name dates to 1887, before highways were built, when a railroad siding was set up at the junction. The community had an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

− Moderne style train depot, serving the railroad line that ran along the Santa Clara River between Saugus and Piru. The depot was demolished around 1990. Just beyond the north end of the Magic Mountain parking lot is the site of the adobe ranch house for the historic

Rancho San Francisco Rancho San Francisco was a land grant in present-day northwestern Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County, California. It was a grant of by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Antonio del Valle, a Mexican army officer, in recognition for his ser ...

, a Mexican land grant that encompassed the

Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) is part of the upper watershed of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. The valley was part of the Rancho San Francisco Mexican land grant. Located in Los Angeles County, its main population center is th ...

from Piru to

Canyon Country Canyon Country is a neighborhood in the eastern part of the city of Santa Clarita, California, Santa Clarita, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies along the Santa Clara River (California), Santa Clara River betwee ...

. According to local legend, icon James Dean ate his last meal at the Tip's Restaurant formerly at the crossroads of Highway 126 and The Old Road before he drove on north.

References

Unincorporated communities in Los Angeles County, California Santa Clarita, California Santa Clara River (California) Unincorporated communities in California {{LosAngelesCountyCA-geo-stub

History

See also

References